Increasingly the last few years, as suburbanites continue to move into the city’s core, there has been much wailing, flailing and gnashing of teeth about the homeless problem. And let’s face it -- many homeless people smell, are scary-looking, and make us feel bad about the entire human experience. When confronted with these rusted-out hulks of humanity, some of us even feel something akin to survivor’s guilt, a sense of “There but for the grace of God go I.” And then we think, “Oh shit, he’s about to ask me for a dollar” and cross the street.

More prominently and of longer duration is the municipal obsession with being a “world-class city.” The Theater District touts itself as world-class. The Greater Houston Convention Center and Visitors Bureau says the Museum District is world class. Type Houston and “world-class city” into Google and you get well-nigh 15,000 examples of people saying this or that is “world-class” here.

Sadly, simple repetition does not make it true. In fact, all the overkill does little more than trumpet our own insecurity. Hell, the International Olympic Committee pretty much told us we weren’t there yet when they shot down our bid to host the 2012 Olympics.

Luckliy for us, one problem can help solve the other. Read on.

OK, according to Language Line Services, when people call for interpreting help in Houston, the No. 1 foreign language requested is Spanish. No surprise there. But Vietnamese has jumped to the No. 2 spot ( No. 5 in the country) and some of the others may surprise you as well. Arabic comes in 4th in Houston; nationally it’s at No. 8.

The list:

Out in Fort Bend County, usually a stronghold of Republicans, the polling place at Hightower High School meant a wait of about 25 minutes mid-day – if you were a Democrat. There was no wait on the Republican side because no one was there other than a lone poll worker and the precinct election judge. A lengthy winding line of people tried to get to the four or five Democratic primary machines available, while the polling machines on the Republican side stood unused.

The traffic reports keep coming in. Here's the latest batch:

"Yesterday it took me an hour to vote at the West Gray center on my lunch break. I guess you can't eat and vote."

"I just went to the Ripley center on Navigation and there is no line. I had a friend who was at West Gray at the time and she said it was insane. She actually ended up driving over to the Navigation center."

Both Kevin Whited and John Nova Lomax say downtown is where it's at.

More to come. -- Keith Plocek

Heading south for Spring Break? Read this list and you just might think twice. -- Keith Plocek

Planning on early voting at the last minute? A few of our staffers hit the polls this week and brought back tales of traffic. Read below to find out where the good spots are. We’ll keep updating as more and more civic duties (ahem) are fulfilled.

“I went to the W. Gray location 2 pm Tuesday; the line looked like it would be an hour/90-minute wait. Instead I went after work to the Bayland Rec Center, near Hillcroft and Bissonet. It was about 6:15 or so and the wait was 10 minutes.”

I used to talk to Barack Obama on a regular basis back when he was a rank-and-file state legislator in Illinois and I worked for a pair of community newspapers there. I lived two blocks away from him and worked in the same building that housed his favorite barbershop.

Obama’s rise from political unknown to political icon has been astounding. In 2004, when Obama was running for U.S. Senate, I followed him on a tour of small churches on the Chicago South Side. The pews were empty, and his speeches received lukewarm applause, at best.

Last Tuesday, 19,000 people packed Houston’s Toyota Center for Obama. Many waited outside for ten hours to hear him speak for 40 minutes. You should have heard the roar when he finally hit the stage.

Obama may well make an excellent president. But he was a largely ineffective lawmaker during most of his career in the Illinois General Assembly.

Javier Morales, South Houston High School

We've just loaded up a new batch of entries in our high school photo contest. Click the image above for plenty of colorful photos, and be sure to let us know which are your favorites in the comments. -- Keith Plocek

UPDATE: Click here to find out who won.

Okay, my gal pal Tamarie and I were lit on junk food and TaB the last you heard from me, and in my insanity I was unable to do the full report you deserve on the Big Oscar Winners…so here’s my take on those who walked home with the little naked guy.

Best Picture (and Best Directors, too): Okay, so I wanted “Juno” to win, but I knew that wasn’t a possibility, so at least “No Country For Old Men” won over the other snoozefests that were nominated. I haven’t even seen it, but I love almost everything the Coen brothers do, so I’m sure I’ll end up adoring it. Didn’t the Coen brothers seem almost too-cool-for-school up there accepting their trophies? They obviously need no Hollywood validation for their work, which makes them even cooler.

Best Actor: I think I had Daniel Day Lewis’s haircut during my Riot Grrrl phase as a sophomore in college. Also those earrings. “I’ve abandoned my son! I’ve abandoned my son!” Yes, Mr. Method Actor, we know, we know. I think Daniel needs to lighten up…watch a little “Talk Soup” or “Family Guy” once in a while. As Tamarie said, his acceptance speech sounded like he was trying to channel Ezra Pound or something.

Best Actress: Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose.” Not only am I an Edith Piaf fan, there’s something about French people speaking English that makes everything they say sound Really Important and Lovely. (“I luv de life, I luv de luv…thiz izzz a city of ahhh-ngels!”) True, Marion did what the Academy loves: gained weight and looked weird for a small role not many people saw. But she did it well. Glad she won.

For the second time, activists from University of Houston Students Against Sweatshops stormed President Renu Khator's office to demand she sign the Designated Suppliers Program, which would help protect the rights of workers who manufacture University apparel. And for the second time, Khator was not in her office, but this time the group had a giant, cardboard cutout of a phone receiver. The following is Houstoned Theatre’s Simpsons-inspired take on what probably went down.

Students: (Ring bell.)

Khator’s Secretary: Who is it?

Students: An angry mob.

Khator’s Secretary: Do you have an appointment?

Something about the east side of our fair city keeps drawing the Sole of Houston back. Even after already hiking Clinton / Navigation and Telephone / Griggs / OST, David Beebe and I decided we needed at least one more trek over there.

Houston’s east side brings to mind Nelson Algren’s famous quote on Chicago: “Once you've come to be a part of this particular patch, you'll never love another. Like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real."

Here’s the east Houston equivalent: “…You may well find uglier uglies. But never an ugly so trill.”

And in truth, it’s not even as ugly as parts of the West Side. The Gulfton Ghetto is uglier than its Broadway equivalent, as we would find out. The far reaches of Westheimer have nothing on honky-tonking semi-rural Almeda-Genoa.

After the usual Internet planning session, Beebe and I decided to meet at the Med Center Transit Center, where we would catch the last Park and Ride bus of the morning out to South Point and hike in from there.

Morning. Hope everyone had a fun time watching the Oscars. We know Miss Pop Rocks did, but we’ll get to that in a second. First things first…

1 a.m. at Lizzards and 1:30 a.m at Velvet Melvin

Bill Olive hit up a couple of bars in Upper Kirby on Saturday night and brought back photos of preppies and the women who love them.

As I type this, my belly is swollen with Star Pizza and my dearest pal Tamarie is eating raw cookie dough…yeah, it’s that night. The Oscars. The Super Bowl for girls. The freaking show hasn’t even started yet, and we’ve already eaten too much.

So here we go with the running commentary…starting…NOW.

Why the hell is Regis working the red carpet? Did Army Archer die?

John Travolta…neck is huge. Is he on steroids now? Wonder what the Scientologists would have to say about that.

Hi. I’m George Clooney’s girlfriend. I was a waitress and on Fear Factor. Now I’m at the Oscars. Like, ohmigawd!!!

Hannah Montana…give her five years and it’s Britney 2: Electric Boogaloo. I’m a TERRIBLE person for thinking that.

Jason Bateman…come to my house with no pants on…thank you.

Click the LISTEN button below for a preview...

Angelina Jolie can’t save all the orphans in Africa, can she? Thankfully, the orphans of the African Children’s Choir are saving themselves. The choir, started 23 years ago, takes orphaned or abandoned African children with amazing musical talent on a worldwide tour to raise awareness of the plight of Africa’s youngest citizens, including children from Darfur, Sudan, Chad and Kenya. You can see them perform today at 8 p.m. Wortham Center, 500 Texas Avenue. For information, call 713-227-2787 or visit www.houstonballet.org. $17 to $47. — Francisca Ortega

By the time you read this, Jennifer Aniston could be dead. Although I suppose it could just as likely end with Angelina on the floor. After all, she’s the one who stole Jen’s pretty boy, so shouldn’t she be the one looking out for Jen’s right hook?

For those of you who think I’ve gone off an even deeper end than usual, let me clue you in. I’m talking about the pre-Oscar bash that will be co-hosted today by several of the hottest celebs in town (did I just type “hottest celebs”???…gag me). Anyway, the annual Night Before party will be attended by all three points of the Bermuda Triangle of Celebrity Love and Gossip: Brad, his former wife Jen, and his current baby mama Angie. So of course all the tabs are in a tizzy over what is sure to be a crazy ass showdown between the two ladies.